LOGAN - I was not expecting what I had watched which was not a bad thing. I didn't see alot of things coming because this movie really wasn't on my radar. I seen the trailer once and thought, I gotta see it. Well finally got to last night. X-23 is so bad-ass. Logan a.k.a Wolverine...he will forever be bad-ass. Professor X the coolest dude in the X-MEN Universe. I can't really say much cause it would spoil many things. It was a biter-sweet movie in the sense that it was the last of Hugh as Wolverine.

Sleepy Hollow, the 1999 Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version, with three, count 'em, three Darths in the cast: Ray Park, Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid. Still not a bad little film. Nothing to do with Washington Irving's story of Ichabod Crane, Yankee schoolmaster, and his encounter with the decapitated rider, names and headlessness apart, but very watchable, and rewatchable.

Doctor Strange. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. It reminded me of certain portions of Batman Begins, really. And Stephen Strange seemed almost like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman/Bruce Wayne and Chris Pratt's Peter Quill. Cumberbatch's accent also needs a little work. Not sure why they made the Ancient One and old broad instead of an old dude, but...hey, it's Hollyweird.

Doctor Strange. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. It reminded me of certain portions of Batman Begins, really. And Stephen Strange seemed almost like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman/Bruce Wayne and Chris Pratt's Peter Quill.

And some of Downey's Tony Stark. It basically followed the template of most superhero origins.

Not sure why they made the Ancient One and old broad instead of an old dude, but...hey, it's Hollyweird.

To avoid stereotype. Here are some of the director's thoughts from this interview:

“It was a challenge from the beginning that I knew I was facing with both Wong and the Ancient One being pretty bad racial stereotypes—1960s versions of what Western white people thought Asians were like,” he said. “We weren’t going to have the Ancient One as the Fu Manchu magical Asian on the hill being the mentor to the white hero. I knew that we had a long way to go to get away from that stereotype and cliché.”

"The first decision that I made was to make it a woman, before we ever went to draft, before we ever had a script,” said Derrickson. “I thought it was interesting to not only make it a woman, but let’s find a woman with some maturity—not a 26-year-old leather-clad fanboy dream girl. Let’s get a real female actor in here. There was a desire for diversity in making that decision."

“As we started to work on it, my assumption was that it would be an Asian character, that it would be an Asian woman,” he said. “We talked about Asian actors who could do it, as we were working on the script, every iteration of it—including the one that Tilda played—but when I envisioned that character being played by an Asian actress, it was a straight-up Dragon Lady.”
“I know the history of cinema and the portrayal of the Dragon Lady in Anna May Wong films, and the continued stereotype throughout film history and even more in television,” he continued. “I just didn’t feel like there was any way to get around that because the Dragon Lady, by definition, is a domineering, powerful, secretive, mysterious, Asian woman of age with duplicitous motives—and I just described Tilda’s character. I really felt like I was going to be contributing to a bad stereotype.”

Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One was my favorite part of the movie, so I have no complaints.

I'll gladly watch another installment of Doctor Strange.

Same here.

Last I watched were bits and pieces of The Godfather parts I and II, The Bourne Identity, Goldfinger, and Unforgiven on TV.

A documentary about a very, very small town in North Dakota. They've lived quietly by themselves for decades, until a white supremacist starts buying land in the town in an attempt to create a haven for himself and his followers.

Subject matter aside, it's a decent documentary that doesn't do much more than provide the facts. In that regard it's pretty tepid. What makes this interesting and worth a watch is the subject matter - the people of Leith and the random, inexplicable situation they found themselves in. To use a cliche, they're simple folks who have just gone about their way for decades and suddenly they found themselves in the national spotlight when some despicable excuse for a human tried to take over the town and make it a safe space for like-minded individuals. I would definitely recommend it.

Doctor Strange. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. It reminded me of certain portions of Batman Begins, really. And Stephen Strange seemed almost like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman/Bruce Wayne and Chris Pratt's Peter Quill.

And some of Downey's Tony Stark. It basically followed the template of most superhero origins.

The facial hair, perhaps. Otherwise, nothing jumps out at me, unless a little bit the smart-assery. But it was smart-assery in a different key, so to speak. But the look of it was a lot like the Batman origin in Batman Begins, and the Nepalese/Really Old Temple-Monastery architecture, etc. No radiation, bugs, radioactive bugs, cosmic rays, or journeys to the bright yellow sun of the Earth involved--there's a fair amount of diversity in those origins, when you really think about it.

Not sure why they made the Ancient One and old broad instead of an old dude, but...hey, it's Hollyweird.

To avoid stereotype. Here are some of the director's thoughts from this interview:

“It was a challenge from the beginning that I knew I was facing with both Wong and the Ancient One being pretty bad racial stereotypes—1960s versions of what Western white people thought Asians were like,” he said. “We weren’t going to have the Ancient One as the Fu Manchu magical Asian on the hill being the mentor to the white hero. I knew that we had a long way to go to get away from that stereotype and cliché.”

"The first decision that I made was to make it a woman, before we ever went to draft, before we ever had a script,” said Derrickson. “I thought it was interesting to not only make it a woman, but let’s find a woman with some maturity—not a 26-year-old leather-clad fanboy dream girl. Let’s get a real female actor in here. There was a desire for diversity in making that decision."

“As we started to work on it, my assumption was that it would be an Asian character, that it would be an Asian woman,” he said. “We talked about Asian actors who could do it, as we were working on the script, every iteration of it—including the one that Tilda played—but when I envisioned that character being played by an Asian actress, it was a straight-up Dragon Lady.”
“I know the history of cinema and the portrayal of the Dragon Lady in Anna May Wong films, and the continued stereotype throughout film history and even more in television,” he continued. “I just didn’t feel like there was any way to get around that because the Dragon Lady, by definition, is a domineering, powerful, secretive, mysterious, Asian woman of age with duplicitous motives—and I just described Tilda’s character. I really felt like I was going to be contributing to a bad stereotype.”

Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One was my favorite part of the movie, so I have no complaints.

Okay, Hollyweird fear of stereotypes. That makes sense, from a certain point of view. There was nothing wrong with the performance, but...it wasn't true to the source material. I hold that the source should not be drastically altered unless there is some insuperable technical obstacle, or some other drastic compelling reason, that the source cannot be followed. There was neither here. I mean, what, they were actually afraid Asian people would complain because the Sorcerer Supreme was old, wise, Asian and y-chromosomed? Is that something to get upset about? Justification for a character peckerectomy? Don't think so. Geez. You'd think they'd have been more afraid of ticking off people by substituting a western female character for an Asian character, especially one so august and powerful. I think the real problem was fear+lack of imagination.

It was great! And the cast! Obi-Wan, Magneto/Gandalf, Matthew from Downton Abbey, Penge from Victoria, Hermione, Sybil Trelawney, just to name a few! I'm not sure why I was so sentimental and cried through several songs. I really enjoyed it.

Destination Moon, 1950. Not bad for what it was, an attempt to make a fairly serious, realistic film about a trip to the Moon. Would have been better at a better time, and without commercial interruption. But, then, what isn't?

It was great! And the cast! Obi-Wan, Magneto/Gandalf, Matthew from Downton Abbey, Penge from Victoria, Hermione, Sybil Trelawney, just to name a few! I'm not sure why I was so sentimental and cried through several songs. I really enjoyed it.

I've been wanting to see this, as its my favorite animated Disney movie. But I've also worried about it just being live-action replication with nothing new.

I've been wanting to see this, as its my favorite animated Disney movie. But I've also worried about it just being live-action replication with nothing new.

Is the music the same? That I do hope for.

From what I understand there's a new song or two, but otherwise it's the same music.

As a counterpoint to RedMirax, I thought it was a waste of time and money. The CGI was worse than the prequels in a lot of places, with the Beast especially looking like he wasn't even part of the same world everybody else was in. Stick with the animated version, imo.

Doctor Strange. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. It reminded me of certain portions of Batman Begins, really. And Stephen Strange seemed almost like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman/Bruce Wayne and Chris Pratt's Peter Quill. Cumberbatch's accent also needs a little work. Not sure why they made the Ancient One and old broad instead of an old dude, but...hey, it's Hollyweird.

I'll gladly watch another installment of Doctor Strange.

Last movie for me too! Just last night, in fact. 3.5/5 stars

Didn't think about Batman Begins, but yeah, I see that now. Except far more truncated. This movie absolutely flew by, which has not always been the case for recent comic book movies.

I thought it was solid, but not much more than that. No complaints, just maybe a bit too much formulaic. It's funny, because I am absolutely in the bag for Marvel flicks, and I've heard the formulaic critique leveled at them a lot in recent years, but I never felt that way about any of them until this one. Yikes...hope that's not a sign that I'm outgrowing them. I mean, Mrs. Rollafett would be happy, but still....

Oh, and speaking of her...we last saw together Arrival. 4.5/5 stars

Really, really dug this flick. So glad that it delve into typical alien invasion tropes. Very smart sci-fi, with the rare feat of being able to make you feel.

"All right, look, there's only one "Return," okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi."

I thought it was solid, but not much more than that. No complaints, just maybe a bit too much formulaic.

Formulaic. That's the word I was looking for before when saying the movie is like so many other superhero movies, origins in particular.

It's funny, because I am absolutely in the bag for Marvel flicks, and I've heard the formulaic critique leveled at them a lot in recent years, but I never felt that way about any of them until this one.

I'm much more of a DC fan, and don't have a lot of the Marvel movies among my favorites. But, I quite liked this one, despite it being formulaic. Definitely wish director and writer were allowed to do more, but I still like the magical world so much and a lot of what they did do (performances, action, visuals), that I would rank it among my favorite Marvel movies. Not among my all-time comic book movie favorites, but among my favorite on the Marvel side.

But, I agree. They've done so many of these, there's a been there/done that feel that's unfortunate.

Oh, and speaking of her...we last saw together Arrival. 4.5/5 stars

Really, really dug this flick. So glad that it delve into typical alien invasion tropes. Very smart sci-fi, with the rare feat of being able to make you feel.

I was disappointed. Maybe because I was expecting more. I enjoyed it as I was watching. But when we got to the end, it didn't feel worth the time/pacing to get there. But I do like smarter sci-fi, so I'm not complaining.

Speaking of sci-fi, though not necessarily of the smart variety, I am really looking forward to seeing "Life."

Recent movie I watched (though I've still got 40 minutes to go) is Mulholland Drive. Not nearly as weird/strange as I remember, though maybe that's more in the last 40 minutes. But I do like it a lot.

Also saw Captain Fantastic yesterday on Amazon Prime. Solid movie with Viggo Mortensen as a man who has raised his children out in the wilderness, and has to bring them into civilization after his wife/their mother dies.

Been tempted to get out to the theater to see Logan again. Or John Wick Chapter 2. But I also do want to see Life, and maybe Beauty and the Beast. Oh, and Get Out.

Some dingleberry of a flick called Rogue One. I give it an F. A Negative 10--thousand, that is: negative ten thousand. In words of one syllable, it stank. It sucked. It blew. It made my eye hurt. (I'm not kidding: I have dry eyes; watching films can be a challenge. While watching Guardians of the Galaxy my eyes were on fire most of the time, but that was worth it. One eye stung and burned during this dog, and it was not.)

Some dingleberry of a flick called Rogue One. I give it an F. A Negative 10--thousand, that is: negative ten thousand. In words of one syllable, it stank. It sucked. It blew. It made my eye hurt. (I'm not kidding: I have dry eyes; watching films can be a challenge. While watching Guardians of the Galaxy my eyes were on fire most of the time, but that was worth it. One eye stung and burned during this dog, and it was not.)

Really? I thought it missed greatness, but I enjoyed it, and far more so than The Force Awakens. In fact, its elevated or enhanced ANH, for me, which is not a minor thing. Can't imagine watching one without the other.

Some dingleberry of a flick called Rogue One. I give it an F. A Negative 10--thousand, that is: negative ten thousand. In words of one syllable, it stank. It sucked. It blew. It made my eye hurt. (I'm not kidding: I have dry eyes; watching films can be a challenge. While watching Guardians of the Galaxy my eyes were on fire most of the time, but that was worth it. One eye stung and burned during this dog, and it was not.)

I thought it missed greatness, but I enjoyed it, and far more so than The Force Awakens.

I thought it missed greatness, too. By by about two or three million parsecs. To me, The Force Awakens is the superior film, which is not to say that The Force Awakens was any great shakes, just a lot better shakes than this...thing.

In fact, its elevated or enhanced ANH, for me, which is not a minor thing. Can't imagine watching one without the other.

Indeed? I can imagine it. I've done it. I've been watching ANH since before it was ANH, and I've seen it a boatload of times, and never ever did I feel a need to know more about the rebel victory and the theft of the plans than was revealed in the film's crawl. I still do not feel that need:

"Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory agains the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet."

There's the story. Two sentences. Clean, direct, all the important info, no waste. Go directly to the battle over Tatooine. I didn't see anything this film added to ANH. What did it need that it didn't have? The new film itself is just those two sentences bloated to two hours and fifteen minutes of pointlessness. All flab. I kept waiting for it to do something, to make itself relevant to the larger, original story, but it didn't happen. Like the other prequel films, this one was telling us things we either already knew, or didn't need to know, in ways that were inferior to the original trilogy.

To me, The Force Awakens is the superior film, which is not to say that The Force Awakens was any great shakes, just a lot better shakes than this...thing.

I still wish TFA never existed, that they'd started with Rogue One and allowed more time to put out a better thought out Episode VII. I find TFA worse. Much, much worse.

Indeed? I can imagine it. I've done it. I've been watching ANH since before it was ANH, and I've seen it a boatload of times...

Now, LT. Now. I can't imagine watching one without the other now that Rogue One exists. Before it existed, I rarely felt much incentive to watch ANH. Now, Rogue One will have me watching ANH a lot more.

...and never ever did I feel a need to know more about the rebel victory and the theft of the plans than was revealed in the film's crawl. I still do not feel that need:

Nor did I ever feel that need. Never would have occurred to me to make a movie out of it. But they did, and I went and saw it, and I liked it a lot. "Need" never factored in.

There's the story. Two sentences. Clean, direct, all the important info, no waste. Go directly to the battle over Tatooine. I didn't see anything this film added to ANH. What did it need that it didn't have? The new film itself is just those two sentences bloated to two hours and fifteen minutes of pointlessness. All flab. I kept waiting for it to do something, to make itself relevant to the larger, original story, but it didn't happen. Like the other prequel films, this one was telling us things we either already knew, or didn't need to know, in ways that were inferior to the original trilogy.

ANH could also be summed up in two sentences. I'm glad Lucas didn't just do that, skip the bloat of ANH, and start with Empire with those two sentences added to the opening crawl. We watch movies to see events unfold.

Now, LT. Now. I can't imagine watching one without the other now that Rogue One exists. Before it existed, I rarely felt much incentive to watch ANH. Now, Rogue One will have me watching ANH a lot more.

I take you at your word, but I cannot fathom how it can be. All the same, I can still imagine watching ANH without Rogue One, and shall watch it without it in the future, and shall not think about it while I watch it. Not just to be ornery, but because it made very little (favorable) impression on me, and I don't think ANH will bring it to mind.

...and never ever did I feel a need to know more about the rebel victory and the theft of the plans than was revealed in the film's crawl. I still do not feel that need:

Nor did I ever feel that need. Never would have occurred to me to make a movie out of it. But they did, and I went and saw it, and I liked it a lot. "Need" never factored in.

Need seems to be inextricable from a film like this one, a piece made of out of sequence, fitted into an established series, with no input from the original creator (for what that was worth the last few times it was tried): A film needs to be made for some reason, and a need to supply important information is a good reason. To fill a glaring gap is another good reason. This...was not the case in this case, and so...I view the whole thing as a needless intrusion, an apocryphal appendix to a story in need of none.

ANH could also be summed up in two sentences. I'm glad Lucas didn't just do that, skip the bloat of ANH, and start with Empire with those two sentences added to the opening crawl. We watch movies to see events unfold.

No, it couldn't have been done in two sentences. It's the beginning, it's the foundation upon which all subsequent films in the series are reared. Too much important material to fit two sentences, unless they were horribly complex and incomprehensibly long.

As to watching events unfold: Precisely my point. We were being made to sit through two hours and fifteen minutes of events that had already unfolded forty years ago, in the interval it took those two sentences to scroll up the screen. They did not need to be recapitulated, and especially not in such a lackluster fashion.

If they'd cut the whole father-daughter inside-man angle from the film, and made it a straight up telling of a military and intelligence operation, they'd still have been going over the old ground, but it would have been a better film. If they'd narrowed the number of settings, or made them more memorable, more distinct, it would have helped. Still, it wouldn't have been a great film or a film inspiring a great need to see it, or a great sense of satisfaction in having it.

The last film I saw was Passengers. Good, but not great. Too much reminiscent of Titanic, and way too many technical howlers. To avoid too much in the way of spoilers for those who might not have seen it: Radiation. It's a thing. But apparently not in the universe of this film. Either that or BIG GIANT FLAMING HOWLER! (And not the only one, by far.) Still, the characters were likable. Ending was slapdash. After that much corn, I expected a better crop.

I probably need to watch it again to fully appreciate it. But its going to be a while before I do it.

Is that already available on disc? I was interested in seeing it, but I wanted to read the novel first. Have the novel, but haven't started it, yet. But I'm about to polish off one of the books I'm reading, so I might start...